


Family Reunion

by Prisca



Category: The Faculty (1998)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 17:13:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6997402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prisca/pseuds/Prisca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the first time, Zeke meets the Connor Clan</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Reunion

"Hey!"  
Casey smiled at his boyfriend, who was leaning against his beloved GTO, smoking.  
"You okay?"

He knew, this weekend was stressful for Zeke. He was grown up without loving parents, without having a big family around. The Connor's though loved their traditions. Christmas dinner at grandma Molly's farm in Idaho. Summer holidays in Florida, where uncle Harry knew the owner of a small resort island. At spring break the big family reunion in Herrington.

Casey's mom enjoyed to play the generous host for the weekend and no one wanted to miss this event. Least of all Casey, though he usually was not a social butterfly. But it had needed all his powers of persuasion to convince Zeke to come with him.

"This is just for family, Case," his boyfriend had told him.

"You are family now. Every year there are some new couples at the reunion. Maik, my cousin, brings a new girlfriend every time. And no one cares. They will like you."

"We are not a couple. At least they don't know that we are."

Correct. Sometimes Casey used to forget this. He wouldn't mind to cry it out into the world. That he was living together with a guy, Zeke Tyler, the former king from Herrington High. He had had a secret crush on him for years. But only in his dreams, he had dared to hope for more.

Everything had changed after graduation when they met again at College. Zeke had changed; for years, he had enjoyed the rep to be the bad boy at school, the guy who didn't give anything about rules; the boy who could break every girl's heart. In New York was no need to put on a show anymore. It had needed some time until Casey was ready to believe it, but for three months now he was living together with Zeke in a small apartment near Columbia.

Nevertheless, only a handful of people knew that they were more than just friends.  
'You and me, Casey, this is something special,' Zeke used to say.  
'It's not necessary that everyone knows about us.'

He had accepted it; actually, it didn't matter. Just sometimes ... like, the family reunion. It did hurt. He wanted Zeke to be a part of his family. Family had always been important for him; the anchor of his life when things got out of control.

But he knew, for Zeke it was different. He had never gotten the love and encouragement he would have needed; so he had turned into a loner with a thick shell around him, who trusted no one easily. The shell had gotten some cracks lately; Zeke started to open up also against others. But maybe it was still too early for a confrontation with the whole Connor Clan.

"Okay, you are right," Casey had finally given in.  
"Let's skip this year's reunion. We can stay here in New York that weekend. There is this exhibition about ancient art, I would love to visit, maybe we can go there instead."

But Zeke had noticed his effort to hide his disappointment despite the smile on his face. Still slightly unsure he had shaken his head.  
"No! I can deal with it. Just ... not the big coming out, okay? We are close friends from College."

+++

"I'm fine."  
Zeke looked up and smiled.  
"Just needed a short break."

Casey stepped closer to kiss him fleetingly.  
"I know, meeting the Connor Clan sometimes can be a challenge. I did see you together with aunt Betty. Lemme guess, she told you about her canaries?"

Yeah."  
Zeke nodded.  
"Grandma Rose wanted to hear some gossip from College, with all slippery details. Lena asked me to play hide and seek with her and ... ähm ... Ben? Your mom is sure we are starving, after two Hot dogs and a steak she turned up with a great bowl of fruit salad with cream and told me I'm much too skinny and that she will send me an extra food parcel every week from now on.

"She has taken you in her heart."  
Casey rolled his eyes but laughed. It was so good to see his boyfriend in this relaxed state. The day went so much better than expected.  
"They all like you."

"Does this mean that I will get invited again?"

"Do you want this," Casey asked and his eyes sparkled in a way that Zeke felt the heat rushing through his body. D'oh! Did this boy actually know what he was doing?

Luckily they got interrupted by a booming voice.  
"Hello, boys, I was looking for you."

"Uncle Harry," Casey said and smiled.  
"Did you meet my friend Zeke already?"

Instead of an answer, the big guy eyed both of them smirking.  
"The dancing will start soon. You should hurry up."

Laughing Casey shook his head.  
"I'm not dancing."

Uncle Harry raised an eyebrow.  
"No excuse, Casey. You know, it's tradition. All new couples do the first dance."

He paled slightly.  
"But I don't have a girlfriend," he murmured halfhearted, not able to hide the trembling of his voice completely.

"I know."  
Two inquiring eyes were resting on Zeke now.  
"You could have made a worse choice. He's a smart, good looking guy. And I bet he's a good athlete, too. Do you play Baseball, young man?"

To his own surprise, Zeke wasn't half as shocked as Casey. He didn't hide his wide grin while nodding.  
"Often at Highschool. Not so often lately, College is very time-consuming."

"Fine. Then I hope that you will join my team later. Our yearly Baseball Game in the park. Unfortunately, we were not very successful lately, John and his team did win every match. But with you, this may change today."

"I will do my best," Zeke promised.

When uncle Harry was gone, he turned to Casey; still smiling.  
"Hey, calm down. His reaction was pretty cool."

Casey didn't seem to listen.  
"Why uncle Harry of all people? At the end of this evening, everyone will know about us."  
He leaned his head against Zeke's broad shoulder and sighed.  
"I'm so sorry. I know, this is what you were afraid of. The big coming out.

Maybe we should sneak away, go back to New York."

Zeke eyed him thoughtfully for a moment, then he shook his head.  
"Running away is not an option. They are family, Case, and you love them. You can't hide forever."

"I love you, too."

Zeke smiled.  
"I know. Don't worry about me. I can deal with it."

"You sure?"

"I am. Never had a family, never missed it. But I guess I could get used to it to be a part of the Connor Clan. They are a bit hyped up sometimes but it's hard not to like them."

The boy looked so flustered that Zeke couldn't hold back for longer. Not caring if anyone else was around he pulled him into his arms and kissed him gently.

"C'mon, let's face the wild pack. Dance with me. The first dance for the new couples."

Casey coughed slightly.  
"You wanna dance," he asked flabbergasted.

"Why not?"  
Zeke put one arm around his shoulder, his other hand rested on his hip, while he made some dancing steps, pulling Casey with him.  
"I'm a good dancer. And we don't wanna break with tradition, do we?"

**Author's Note:**

> originally written for FanFic50
> 
> also posted at my LJ


End file.
